An Ugly POC
This isn't about some skin condition or other annoying medical problem. No, POC means proof of concept in this context. I've always had great interest in the VHF/UHF+ bands, but keeping long-boom stacked yagis in good shape takes more climbing and tower time than I'm willing to invest as a geezer. During the Christmas holiday season, another outlet for experimentation in those bands surfaced: Meshtastic. Metastatic piqued my interest and curiosity for a number of reasons: 1. The devices are essentially small micro-controller boards that also contain a radio chip. These boards aren't very expensive, almost always < $50, <$100 with a nice case. 2. In the US, these devices operate in the 33cm ham band (900 MHz), but can also be used by unlicensed folks, provided certain EIRP restrictions are observed. 3. The firmware for these boards and client software for Android phones, Linux machines, and that other OS are all...